Google Boasts the Droid's YouTube FeaturesGoogle isn't in the phone-making business, but it's not leaving anything to chance with the latest and greatest handset to sport the brand-new Android 2.0, the Motorola Droid. By all accounts, it's a great phone, and it's clear that Google has put all of its muscles behind the product. A couple of weeks ago, it launched a great turn-by-turn navigation app for Android 2.0 and now it's boasting some of the capabilities available to YouTube users on the Droid. And, despite the obvious ties between the products, the new phone really does have some very clear advantages over its competitors when it comes to mobile video sharing and uploading. Of course, some of these features will eventually make their way to other phones using the new Android 2.0, but, for now, they are exclusive to the Motorola Droid. “It is now possible to shoot DVD-quality videos and upload them to YouTube with a single flick of a finger... In addition, the new YouTube widget gives single-tap access to recording and sharing capabilities right from the home screen,” Jonathan Matus, Android lead product marketing manager, wrote about the recording capabilities of the device. The real interesting feature here is the simplicity with which the videos can be shared on YouTube as soon as you record them. And, judging by ...

Norwegian ISP Doesn't Have to Cut Off Access to the Pirate BayThe war between the music industry and anyone it perceives as standing in its way of making money the good, old-fashioned way, by selling CDs, is still raging, but, for once, common sense and this little thing called the law prevailed in the face of scare tactics and misguided legal threats. Earlier this year, the Norwegian ISP Telenor was asked by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) to block access to the Pirate Bay website or else face legal consequences. Telenor chose to ignore the 'or else' and it's a good thing it did so, as the Norwegian court decided that IFPI had no legal basis for its claims. The court decided that Telenor wasn't breaking any law by allowing its subscribers to access the Pirate Bay and that the ISP wasn't aiding in any copyright infringement. Furthermore, the court believed that it was not the ISP's responsibility to police its customers and that any illegal acts that might be happening using its services should be dealt with by the appropriate authorities and not private companies. Last March, IFPI demanded that Telenor blocked access to the popular torrent site, or it would be forced to take the matter to court. The ISP understandably refused to do something as drastic as entirely blocking access to a site on the whims of a music...

Most Google Apps May Be Getting a Thorough RedesignGoogle may be planning to give all of its apps and services a great do-over, creating a more unified experience across the different products. None of Google's biggest names is spared, starting with Gmail and moving to Docs and News, all of which will supposedly get a brand-new interface, very similar to Google Wave. Even the search results page will be pretty drastically redesigned to bring it in line with the overall new theme. If the leaked photos Engadget managed to get its hands on turn out to be accurate, Google Wave is just the first step and offers a glimpse of how most of Google's apps will look and feel in the not-so-distant future. The source of the screenshots says Google's "goal is to provide a consistent experience throughout all Google Apps and blur the line between the browser and the website (e.g. drag and drop, right-click, etc.)." That sounds reasonable enough, it's something that Google obviously has a great interest in and has been working towards for years. It launched its very own web browser just to make its apps run faster and integrate better with the desktop and now it's even launching its own operating system to take that even further. As for the photos themselves, they don't look obviously fake, though Engadget wasn't able to verify the leak with any othe...